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With very little information to go on about the rumored announcement on September 5th, I’m going to talk about some of the ideas pointed out in regard to a Canon mirrorless full-frame camera.  Me and a camera. Not too long ago I transitioned to a pair of Canon EOS M50 camera bodies with the 22mm f2, 11-22mm, and 15-45mm kit lens primarily for solo video work. The M50 is such a nice little camera that I’ve been using it for photos a lot as well. EF-M is now a solid system thanks to DPAF, though the M50 lacks a few things I’d like to have, and also hasn’t had great lens release support from Canon. Overall I’m happy with the setup given the great DPAF in video, fully articulating screen, and solid Android app. I did own the original EOS-M camera… what a huge improvement the M50 is in every regard! Anyways… First off let’s talk about the most well known rumors... The frequently mentioned quote about a “sexy” solution to mirrorless full-frame with Canon is odd. I’ve never seen this inte...

Canon announced their new 6D full-frame camera body. You can see all of the detailed specifications here . You can see my article on the Nikon D600 here where I basically gave it a very positive outlook. While compromises were made with the D600, it still has enough from a value standpoint to be really appealing. The Canon 6D on the other hand has a suggested retail price of $2099 US, which is the same as the Nikon, however… Viewfinder coverage of 97% (D600 = 100%) Shutter speed maximum of 1/4000th (D600 is the same) Flash sync maximum of 1/180th (D600 = 1/200th max) While not an issue in practice, the 6D sensor has around 4 mega-pixels less than the D600. The 6D has a single SD card slot and the D600 has two. The 6D has wifi and GPS internally (nice, but this is a camera. I’d rather see the money go into a better viewfinder or something) AF system: 11 points Center: cross-type at f/5.6; vertical line-sensitive at f/2.8. Upper and lower AF points: vertical line-sensitive AF at f/5.6...

As I’m sure most of the people who read this site know, the Nikon D600 was announced recently. The simple fact you need to know is that it is an enthusiast level full-frame camera. Not only that, but the starting price of $2099 in the USA is the lowest a full-frame (FF) camera has been offered for from release (technically, the Sony A850 that bombed was $2000?). This camera is interesting enough to me that I felt compelled to write an opinion article on it. (stock image from nikonusa.com) What can we expect from a low cost full frame? We can expect a change in the entire game. The other companies will most likely follow suit and that should really change the landscape of digital photography. While there are, of course, used full-frame DSLR cameras below that price point, it still doesn’t open the gate like a new product can. I think 2013 will be the year that we see a wider audience have access to FF sized imaging sensor cameras, which I think is a great step. We are moving ba...

Fall is usually a time for new camera announcements. Just recently Pentax France showed a promo PDF that hinted at a new camera body besides the Q and 645D. They have since modified the PDF and removed the hint, but it’s interesting at least. If you frequent PentaxForums.com, you will know a debate on Pentax Full-frame comes up every so often. As I’m a person who feels I could benefit from Pentax FF, I usually post at least one message stating my reasons. This time , the discussion started with a pretty strong argument for full-frame. I agree that for Pentax to get back the popularity they had in their heyday, they should have at least one camera for each audience. We see that they are expanding their offerings after cutting back a bit on 35mm. They now have three digital systems (K, 645, and Q), so they are trying to increase their general appeal. Recent 35mm lens releases have been pretty yawn inducing from an enthusiast point of view. I wonder if it was because they were working on ...

As I’m sure you have realized by now, I primarily used Pentax equipment. I also spend time reading forums like pentaxforums.com with the lively equipment centric debates. I would like to eventually offer more content on this site for all brands, but I will need to make some connections before that can happen. Well anyways, here is another post about Pentax I was writing up for a forum topic. It deals with Pentax’s recent history and how I see it. I also talk about full-frame digital cameras as that was the topic of discussion. I love talking about Pentax full-frame. I’ll first include some background as how I see it before saying where I think they will go. I think the K-7 and K-x were a positive turning point for Pentax. Both in leadership (Hoya) and focus on the photographic tools they offer. Camera companies are not known to be fast. Even before Hoya showed up there was a shift internally when the K-7 was being developed, so I’d say it was more internal Pentax with some reality chec...

Update… As you probably know the full-frame Pentax K-1 was release in April 2016. By then I had switched to Nikon so I could try out a camera that sensor size. That said, I was off by around 5 years! It finally happened! In July I had written a forum posting where I was taking a guess at what Pentax was planning to release toward the end of 2010 in the USA: K-x with a soft replacement on the way K-7 replacement that comes out at $1100 MSRP. Pretty much exactly the same body wise to keep costs down, but has a few soft improvements like the sensor. I can’t see this not working as they can sell the K-7 around $800 or less right now. A more advanced model that comes out between $1600 and $2400 depending on what is in it. It could be full frame, or something like an APS-C “machine gun” camera ala. 7D. The 645D taking up the super high-end. I think that was reasonable close to the mark in 3 out of 4. The K-r is generally a soft upgrade replacement for the K-x. The 645D is now going to be sol...

I noticed at PentaxForums that the member Frank posted images taken with the new DA-L 35mm f2.4 lens. This confirms that the lens is capable at full-frame sensor size! So my question to Pentax is this… Why wasn’t this lens released as a two version lens? DA-L 35mm f2.4 as it is currently.  All plastic including the mount No quick shift No weather resistance D-FA 35mm f2.4 WR Quick shift focus Metal casing and lens mount Weather seals Rounded aperture blades if it doesn’t already have them. I would buy a D-FA 35mm f2.4 WR the moment it was released as long as it wasn’t outrageously priced. The current lens on the other hand, while cost effective, is missing key Pentax features.